A Forum for Orthodox Jewish thought on Halacha, Hashkafa, and the social issues of our time.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Two Perspectives on Dressing Modesty

When it comes to modesty in dress there is a wide variety in
the way various segments of Orthodox Jewry put it into practice. But the basics are the same for all. Without
getting into the details of the basic Halacha, I will just say that modesty for
women requires that she cover those parts of the body that are considered “her
nakedness” (Erva). Those are the biblical
parameters which apply in all places - at all times in public. The rabbinic parameters (Tznius)
go beyond the biblical requirement and are relative to the culture where one resides.

So that in places like Iran, a Jewish woman may be required
to follow the modesty customs of that culture which go far beyond what is
biblically required. In places like America, the biblical and rabbinic parameters
are the same. Modesty in western cultural terms do not meet even the biblical
Erva standard.

Some of the more right wing segments of Orthodoxy insist on taking
matters of Tznius to much greater lengths than Halacha requires - even those that live in westernized cultures like America and Israel. For example,
even though an exposed lower leg below the knee is not considered Erva, Chasidic
– and many other Charedi communities require that it be covered anyway. And
consider it highly immodest if a woman’s leg below the knee is fully exposed.

Which brings me to two articles in the Forward. One by Judy
Brown, a woman who is Charedi. The other by Simi Lampert who is Modern
Orthodox. It is interesting to see the similarity of attitude expressed by
both.

One might think that a Modern Orthodox woman would be put
off by the attitude expressed by the Charedi woman. But in both cases they seem
to be saying the same thing. Which is that they understand the purpose behind
those modesty rules. And both expressed the desire to follow them.

Both women have the desire to look attractive by western cultural standards and have tried on immodest
clothing in private just to see how they would look. Both thought they
looked great, and both would never consider wearing such clothing in public. They both feel a level of comfort in following the modesty rules.

The difference between them is cultural and not Halachic. In
the Charedi culture, the idea of not wearing stockings is considered a Tznius
violation. So much so that when an error in perception was made about the Mrs.
Brown not wearing stockings even though her legs were covered below the knee,
all hell broke loose. Here is how she tells the story:

(T)he young man passing by the yard declared that he had
seen me with bare legs. Like a careless whore...

It was Tuesday, mid-August, a (very hot) day… I filled up the baby pool for my children in
the yard settled on a plastic chair with cherry ices and dunked my legs in the
pool, right where the water spurted from the hose.

It was then that the Hasid passed. It was then that he saw
me — beige pantyhose transparent, legs seemingly bare — and, looking quickly
away, hurried to tell the rav. I had not seen him at all. I did not know
of the bewildered chaos going on in his mind until later that night, when my
husband came home and stared at me quizzically.

The rav had called, he said. Could it be true?
That I had sat outside with no pantyhose at all?

Of course she was wearing stockings and it was just a
misperception on the part of a passerby. The point here is how seriously her this
Chumra is taken in the world of Chasidim. As ‘modern’ as Mrs. Brown became in
other areas, this area is sancrosanct to her.

This would never happen in Modern Orthodoxy. Of course
modern Orthodox Jews do not have the infra structure or the desire to dictate
how its members dress. As Mrs. Lambert points out:

If my rabbi approached my husband about what I was wearing
in my own yard, I’d almost definitely move. The very next day.

While both communities follow the same Halachos of modesty
there is no mechanism, or really any pressure in Modern Orthodoxy that would
force a violator to adhere to Halacha. One will find that modesty laws are occasionally breached by those
I would call MO-Lite. The kind of guilt described by Mrs. Brown does not exist
in MO circles, at least not on the level she seemed to have about it.

All an MO Rav can do is teach the laws. He has no method of
enforcement. In the Charedi world the peer pressure alone is enough to enforce
those rules. In the Chasidic world there are actual social consequences to
those violations as suggested by Mrs. Brown’s description of events.

What should be noted however is not the differences but the
similarities. Nor will I comment on which system is better off. The point is
that serious Jews, whether Charedi or Modern Orthodox take Halacha very seriously.
Even when there is social pressure to do otherwise.

Mrs. Lampert concludes:

(N)o halacha should be trivialized simply because it sounds
absurd. If it is, I think we should start with the one where we blow a ram’s
horn on specific occasions.

Though I see the beauty behind the laws of tzenua, the
desire to look like ‘them’ and dress like ‘them’ has always had a strong pull
over me. Is the difference between Ms. Brown and myself the result of our different
forms of Orthodoxy?

Does the sheltered world of right-wing Orthodoxy truly
protect its members from the pull of the secular world, while the fragile
balance of Modern Orthodoxy exposes its observers to temptations that halacha
denies? Still, there are right-wing Jews who leave the fold, and Modern
Orthodox Jews who are true leaders of this generation.

Maybe there’s no lesson here about the cultural disparities
between ways of Jewish life. Perhaps it’s just a personality difference between
two women who try to live the dual life of a halachic American.

I disagree with her. I think there is a lesson to be learned
here. The lesson is that there is no real difference in the desire of members
of either community to serve God. Serious
Jews ought to be respected no matter what their Hashkafos are as long as they
are all L’Shem Shomayim.

Follow by Email

Followers

Recent Comments

About Me

My outlook on Judaism is based mostly on the teachings of my primary Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik from whom I received my rabbinic ordination. It is also based on a search for spiritual truth. Among the various sources that put me on the right path, two great philosophic works stand out: “Halakhic Man” and “Lonely Man of Faith” authored by the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher and theologian, Rabbi, Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Of great significance is Rabbi, Dr. Norman Lamm's conceptualization and models of Torah U’Mada and Dr. Eliezer Berkovits who introduced me to the world of philosophic thought. Among my early influences were two pioneers of American Elementary Torah Chinuch, Rabbis Shmuel Kaufman and Yaakov Levi. The Yeshivos I attended were Yeshivas Telshe for early high school and more significantly, the Hebrew Theological College where for a period of ten years, my Rebbeim included such great Rabbinic figures as Rabbis Mordechai Rogov, Shmaryahu Meltzer, Yaakov Perlow, Herzl Kaplan, and Selig Starr. I also attended Roosevelt University where I received my Bachelors Degree - majoring in Psychology.